The Down Range Forum
Member Section => Down Range Cafe => Topic started by: billt on November 21, 2016, 07:43:27 AM
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For about the last year or so I have had a lot of issues with muscle and joint pain. I thought it was just from old age setting in. It got to the point when I would get down on the living room carpet to play with the dog, I could hardly get up! It really hurt. Then about 6 months ago I had a doctors appointment for a checkup and routine blood panel, and he called me to tell me I had a large Vitamin D deficiency. He also was questioning my Thyroid results. He said that could be effected by me lacking Vitamin D as well.
He told me to immediately start taking 2,000 units a day. So I did. I couldn't believe the difference! Within a couple of weeks I started to improve. Most all the muscle and joint pain I was having went away. I can bounce up off the floor like I was 30. I just had my blood panel redone, and my thyroid was completely normal. I had no idea Vitamin D was that important. He said many adults in their 60's lack it.
So now I make sure I take 2,000 units a day regularly. All of the pain and discomfort I was experiencing all went away. The stuff is cheap, and can really improve your life. Try it and see. I doubt you will be disappointed in the results.
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http://www.webmd.com/pain-management/features/vitamin-d-deficiency-and-chronic-pain-link
Can't hurt but be careful if you have kidney stones... See the last statement..
Glad you're getting pain free.. I'm going to give it a try but I do have stones disease and it's not fun!
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I've never had any kidney stone issues. But I do take cranberry pills. They are supposed to be very good for your urinary tract.
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CO-Q10 Supposed to be good for the heart. Sure helped me feel rested.
Lycopene Anti-cancer; especially for prostate. On this for a long time.
Tumeric Anti-cancer.
Grape Seed Extract Supposed to get rid of bad stuff in your system.
Eye Caps My macular degeneration halted with these. Could be coincidence.
Other things too, but not daily like these...
Not a medical recommendation. What I do and why I do it.
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I take calcium pills every day for osteoporosis and they have vitamin D in them and I take a multi vitamin and mineral supplement like generic centrum. Between the 2 kinds of pills I think I'm getting enough vitamin D but don't know that I've ever had it checked. I have arthritis in every vertebrae of my neck and back but the pain is mostly manageable with generic naprosyn twice a day. Everything else I take is prescribed for me by doctors.
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I take calcium pills every day for osteoporosis and they have vitamin D in them and I take a multi vitamin and mineral supplement like generic centrum. Between the 2 kinds of pills I think I'm getting enough vitamin D but don't know that I've ever had it checked. I have arthritis in every vertebrae of my neck and back but the pain is mostly manageable with generic naprosyn twice a day. Everything else I take is prescribed for me by doctors.
Try taking an extra 1,000 units of Vitamin D every day for a few weeks and see if that doesn't help eliminate some of the pain. It can't hurt.
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CO-Q10 Supposed to be good for the heart. Sure helped me feel rested.
Also good for people taking any kind of statin, lessens the side effects if any. My (new) wife (4 years this year!!!) had abdominal issues until she started taking CoQ-10 along with the statin.
I take CoQ-10, C, and D3 daily. The major change is that I rarely, if ever, get sick anymore, whereas I used to have some sort of a bug all winter.
My (former Marine) son was getting sick weekly as he did his student teaching, until I suggested Airborne and C daily. He stopped getting sick, even moving from school to school.
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Pathfinder... from a former classroom teacher... tell him to wash his hands as often as he can... don't touch his fingers to his face... keep up the Vitamin C and zinc lozenges
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Washing of hands is the single most important thing we can do to prevent illness!
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For about the last year or so I have had a lot of issues with muscle and joint pain. <snip>
Try some MSM and Glucosamine Chondroitin. The MSM seems to help arthritis more and the glucosamine chondroitin joint/cartilage. The gc may take 2-3 months but I know several who improved after years of chronic issues.
And I buy my stuff from the Health Center for Better Living www.hcbl.com when I can. The WalMart CoQ10 works and I suspect the other stuff is OK too...I do buy from them as well.
Look up MD Anderson and type in lycopene, turmeric and cinnamon and see what they say about the properties of those components....
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Try some MSM and Glucosamine Chondroitin.
I have to be careful with that stuff because it raises my blood sugar too much. It becomes a case where the cure is worse than the disease.
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Had a VA appointment yesterday and brought up the vitamin D idea with my primary. Doc sent me straight over to the lab for a blood draw, so he must have thought it warranted action. I should find out results in the next day or two.
If the results give me an easily treated reason for all the discomfort I've felt, I will be very grateful, Billt.
If D solves the problem, maybe next time I'm in Mesa I can buy you a drink or three.
Crusader Rabbit
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I think you'll see a marked improvement. It sure has made a big difference in my life, with all of the pain I was experiencing. It makes me wonder how many people are taking pain medication, who should be taking Vitamin D instead? You also have to remember as you get older, your skin isn't as able to extract the necessary Vitamin D from sunlight hitting your skin. So taking a Vitamin D supplement becomes even more important for us old farts.
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One other thing worth mentioning, is pure Vitamin D is stored in fat cells in your body. So when taking pure Vitamin D it is possible to overdose on it. But Vitamin D3 is not. If you take too much your body will simply dispose of it through your urinary tract. In short, you'll simply piss away what your body doesn't need or want. I'm taking 2,000 units of Vitamin D3 daily. Vitamin D2 and D3 are very similar, depending what you read on both.
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Hey Crusader, has the Vitamin D helped you out at all?
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Hey Crusader, has the Vitamin D helped you out at all?
My blood test results showed that I was marginally low, and primary doc recommended I take one 1,000 iu cap daily. Because I am a firm believer in the old fallacy that if a little is good, more must be better, I have been taking two 1,000 iu caps daily.
I have noticed no positive results. No negative results, either.
I had really wanted that to be something of a solution and a lifestyle improvement, but it was not to be.
To add a bit more to this discussion, MSM acts like an NSAID, both in reducing pain and also in the unwanted side effects like gastrointestinal distress. Gotta be careful when using it.
Glucosamine Chondroitan has gone through numerous clinical trials over the years and at best has showed only marginally improved outcomes and only in a few studies. I gave it a 6-month trial myself and found no improvement in knee or elbow joints.
CoQ10, on the other hand, has shown significant promise in numerous clinical trials, specifically in improving the heart and circulatory system. I think it's one supplement that is probably worth the money.
FWIW,
Crusader Rabbit
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MSM makes my blood pressure go up.
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I had a similar experience last year when I got out of ICU. My lethargy was compounded by low iron as well. I ran out and quit taking it for a couple of months until I was having trouble staying awake on the commute home ~55 minutes. Had my INR checked and my wife brought it up and we rediscovered my low iron. I'm doing much better now, hitting the gym 5-6 days a week training for the Oregon Powerlifting Championships in June. ;D
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I'm still taking a Centrum Silver, and now I'm up to 2,000 U of Vitamin D3 a day. Along with Cranberry pills. (2 pills 3 times a day). It really helps your urinary tract. I need to get more exercise however.
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I had a similar experience last year when I got out of ICU. '
<snip>
ICU?
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I've been taking D3 for a few years but my problem was waking up with leg cramps every night.I've started taking a magnesium supplement a few days ago and so far I haven't woke up with a leg cramp.Fingers crossed.
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I'm feeling real bad with all this talk about how wonderful D is for you.
I checked and between my vitamin and supplements I'm already getting 1,500 a day and I'm not feeling all that much better. Actually I'm afraid how bad I'll feel if I stop taking my pills.
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There have been a few studies over the last few years that suggest that multivitamins aren't really necessary. If you're eating a balanced diet of fresh produce, good lean meats, dairy, carbs, etc. then the extra dose is generally going down the toilet.
Now, if your diet consists of primarily boxed, heavily process foods or fast foods then by all means, take something over the counter.
My sister ate ridiculous amounts of supplements in her thirties and forties but smoking killed her at 56!
Diet and movement, when I'm active, my knees feel better, my body feels better, everything feels better!
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I've been taking D3 for a few years but my problem was waking up with leg cramps every night.I've started taking a magnesium supplement a few days ago and so far I haven't woke up with a leg cramp.Fingers crossed.
You may want to try calcium for those leg cramps. Some people swear by it.
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It's been about a week since I started taking the magnesium supplement and haven't woke up with a leg cramp since.
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Magnesium also helps, I've heard, ward off heart attacks. The number 40% comes to mind...40%-60% of heart attack victims have low magnesium as I can remember. Anyway, it's a big number so the magnesium may be helping you in other ways.
I had forgotten and haven't taken any for a while. I'm glad you brought it up. Stress is a big suck on magnesium and I've had nothing but stress the last year or so...
Potassium may help your cramps too...but too much of that is bad for the heart.
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Bunny said she had been experiencing leg cramps for awhile. Only happened at night when she was trying to sleep. She hadn't mentioned it until I said something about forgetting to take a Magnesium tab. That reminded her about all the things Magnesium is good for.
Anyway, she took a tab yesterday, and had no cramps last night.
Seems too quick to me, but I haven't had leg cramps for months since I started taking a supplement. Maybe it works quickly, huh?
FWIW
Crusader Rabbit
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Anyway, she took a tab yesterday, and had no cramps last night. Seems too quick to me, but I haven't had leg cramps for months since I started taking a supplement. Maybe it works quickly, huh?
FWIW
Crusader Rabbit
A lot of this stuff does. Especially if your body is in need of it, and is craving it. Once it gets into your blood stream, (which happens in a matter of a few hours), the positive results can be had from it very quickly.
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ICU?
A genetic clotting disorder, combined with a desk job and 2.5-3 hours commuting for 4 months caused a DVT (Deep Vein Thrombosis-Big Blood Clot) in my right leg, getting back into the gym and doing some heavy'ish squats knocked said blood clot loose, up through my heart and one end into each lung, AKA Saddle Pulmonary Embolism. I was among the 20% that survive and walked around like that for another 11 days before I made it to my doctor (went to Urgent care 5 days after and got an inhaler) who sent me to get a CT scan where they saw the clot and promptly flipped the F out. 5 days in ICU with IV blood thinners and stool softener I got out. 9 months later, last month, I set 4 state power lifting records for my age and weight :D
After I got out I struggled with fatigue which was partially attributed to my condition but looking at my test panels, no shortage of data there, we realized my Vitamin D and Iron were both low. Started taking them and I feel pretty good 8)
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Here's my personal update on the Vitamin D supplement I've been taking.
As I noted before, I really didn't have anything positive to report--no boundless energy; no painless knees; nothing special, at all.
Until last week...
I rather suddenly realized that my knees weren't nearly as painful as usual, and walking didn't cause me any particular amount of pain. I haven't regressed to what I was 25 years ago, but I have to admit to feeling a lot better than a couple of months ago. Even my energy level is up.
So, Billt, thanks for the suggestion. I'm going to keep taking 2,000 iu caps daily, and a Vitamin D level will be part of my semi-annual bloodwork protocol.
A grateful Crusader Rabbit
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Good for you Crusader! I'm glad it's helping you. Keep taking it. I'm not good at reminding myself every morning. In fact, you just did. Thanks!